Author Christopher Hitchens Dies At 62

Christopher Hitchens, an author, journalist and intellectual known for his strong views on atheism, politics and international affairs has died. Vanity Fair confirms Hitchens passed away of pneumonia Thursday at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The 62-year-old had been battling esophageal cancer.

Hitchens grew up in England and got a degree at Oxford University. He moved to the United States in 1981 and became a successful journalist, writing for the likes of The Nation, The Atlantic and Free Inquiry. In 1992, Hitchens became a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. He wrote 10 columns a year for the publication, his final essay dated January 2012.

Among Hitchens’ numerous books include a 2010 memoir Hitch-22, the 2007 bestseller God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and The Trial of Henry Kissinger.

“There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar. Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls," said Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter.

Hitchens is survived by his wife, three children and brother.

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